Crashed Flyers!
Crashed Flyers! is a short story which was first published in The Modern Boy Issue 327, 12th May 1934. The story was subsequently gathered and published in 1935 in the Boys' Friend Library edition of Biggles Learns to Fly where it spanned chapters 9 and 10. The original Modern Boy short story was divided into three sections with subtitles Catch Them Unprepared!, Blinding Flame! and A Line of Bayonets. The 1935 BFL edition used the chapter titles A Daring Stunt and A Line of Bayonets. Subsequent editions such as Brockhampton and Armada recombined the two chapters into one but still using the title A Daring Stunt. This practice was also followed when the story was republished in Biggles of the Royal Flying Corps. Synopsis The British are concerned about losing air superiority because of the German strategy of combining their fighter forces into large units. The R.F.C. plans a night bombing raid on the German airfield at Douai in order to destroy as many of their fighters as possible. Biggles and Mark Way take part in the attack but are then shot down. Plot (may contain spoilers - click on expand to read) Characters *Biggles *Captain Mapleton *Captain Rayner *Captain Allen *Marriot *Todd *McAngus *Mark Way *Major Paynter Aircraft *F.E.2b *Fokker Dr.I Places Visited *169 Squadron *Douai Mentioned Editorial Changes Other Research Notes References to the past Incongruities *See chronology below for some anachronisms. Chronology (see also table at Timeline of the Biggles Stories) *According Captain Mapleton, "Richthofen, they say, has grouped three squadrons together, including all the best pilots of the German Air Force ... he's sailing up and down the Lines with thirty triplanes tagged on behind him." *This, unfortunately has the effect of placing the events too late into 1917. The grouping of several squadrons to form Jagdgeschwader 1 (JG1) or Richthofen's Circus, only took place on 24th June 1917. Trials of the Fokker Triplane only began in August 1917 and Fokker only began deliveries of the triplane to JG1 in October that year. *On the other hand, we know that by June 1917, Biggles had been posted to 266 Squadron (Biggles and the Runaway Tank. *A fair position for this story would be April 1917. **In April 1917 ("Bloody April"), the R.F.C. was suffering heavy casualties exactly as Biggles was lamenting in the opening of the story. **Two stories down, in The Laughing Spy, there is mention of "early spring frosts". **A further two stories on, in Biggles Buys the Sky, the Bristol Fighter is just being introduced, which also happened in April 1917. Publication History *''The Modern Boy'', Issue 327, 12th May 1934 *''Biggles Learns to Fly'', Boy's Friend Library 1935 (as Chapter 9: A Daring Stunt, Chapter 10: A Line of Bayonets!) *''Biggles Learns to Fly'', Brockhampton, 1955 (as Chapter 7: A Daring Stunt) *''Biggles Learns to Fly'', Armada, 1963, and subsequent reprints (as Chapter 7: A Daring Stunt) *''Biggles of the Royal Flying Corps'', Purnell, 1978 (as Chapter 3: A Daring Stunt) *''Biggles Learns to Fly'', Severn House, 1980 *''Biggles Learns to Fly'', Knight, 1986, and subsequent reprints *''Biggles Learns to Fly'', Red Fox, 1992, and subsequent reprints *''Biggles Learns to Fly'', Norman Wright, 2010 References Category:Short stories Category:Biggles short stories Category:World War One era short stories